Recent Longevity News for the week ending 12/28/16

Plastics compound, BPS, often substituted for BPA, alters mouse moms' behavior and brain regions - Science Daily, 12/22/16 - "BPS, found in baby bottles, personal care products and thermal receipts, is a replacement chemical for BPA and was introduced when concern was raised about possible health effects of that plastic compound ... The authors found a surprising increased incidence of infanticide among mouse mothers exposed to the lower dose in utero. Vandenberg and Catanese report that "although these same effects were not seen at the higher dose, more than 10 percent of females exposed to 2 microgram BPS/kg/day either killed their pups or provided such poor instrumental maternal care that one or more pups needed to be euthanized. While not statistically significant, the neglect and poor maternal care we observed were striking.""

Vitamin D improves gut flora and metabolic syndrome - Science Daily, 12/21/16 - "a high fat diet affects the balance between good and bad bacteria in the gut. This induces modest fatty liver and slightly raises blood sugar levels in mice. Remarkably, an insufficient supply of vitamin D aggravates the imbalance in gut flora, contributing to full-scale fatty liver and metabolic syndrome ... Vitamin D deficiency decreases the production of defensins, which are anti-microbial molecules essential to maintain healthy gut flora" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Spicy molecule inhibits growth of breast cancer cells - Science Daily, 12/21/16 - "The researchers activated the TRPV1 receptor in the cell culture with capsaicin or helional, by adding the substances to the culture for a period of several hours or days. As a result, the cancer cells divided more slowly. Moreover, the treatment caused tumour cells to die in larger numbers. The surviving cells were no longer able to move as quickly as heretofore; this implies that their ability to form metastases in the body was impeded ... If we could switch on the TRPV1 receptor with specific drugs, this might constitute a new treatment approach for this type of cancer" - See capsaicin supplements at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Mediation of coffee-induced improvements in human vascular function by chlorogenic acids and its metabolites: Two randomized, controlled, crossover intervention trials - Clin Nutr. 2016 Nov 30 - "polyphenol intake has been linked to improvements in human vascular function, although data on hydroxycinnamates, such as chlorogenic acid (CGA) have not yet been studied. We aimed to investigate the impact of coffee intake rich in chlorogenic acid on human vascular function and whether CGAs are involved in potential effects ... flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) ... FMD responses to coffee intake was closely paralleled by the appearance of CGA metabolites in plasma ... pure 5-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA), the main CGA in coffee (5-CQA; 450 mg and 900 mg) on FMD was also investigated ... Coffee intake acutely improves human vascular function, an effect, in part, mediated by 5-CQA and its physiological metabolites" - See green coffee bean extract at Amazon.com (usually standardized to 50% chlorogenic acids.

Free T3 to free T4 ratio less than 2.0 suggests low T3 syndrome rather than central hypothyroidism from the age of two to eighteen years - Endocr J. 2016 Dec 22 - "No serological cut-off exists to separate low T3 syndrome (LT) and central hypothyroidism (CH) ... In conclusion, fT3/fT4 less than 2.0 suggests LT rather than CH for patients from the age of two to eighteen years" - See T3 at International Anti-aging Systems.

Meta-Analysis of Milk Consumption and the Risk of Cognitive Disorders - Nutrients. 2016 Dec 20;8(12) - "The highest level of milk consumption was significantly associated with a decreased risk of cognitive disorders, and the pooled OR (95% CI) was 0.72"

Antioxidants and Dementia Risk: Consideration through a Cerebrovascular Perspective - Nutrients. 2016 Dec 20;8(12) - "An emerging body of evidence suggests that the integrity of the cerebrovascular blood-brain barrier (BBB) is centrally involved in the onset and progression of cognitive impairment and dementia ... Conclusively, there is a compelling body of evidence that suggest antioxidants may prevent cognitive decline and dementia by protecting the integrity and function of BBB and, indeed, further studies are needed to directly examine these effects in addition to underlying molecular mechanisms" - See Garden of Life Vitamin Code 50 & Wiser Men's Multi, 240 Capsules and Garden of Life Vitamin Code 50 & Wiser Women's Multi, 240 Capsules.

Pioglitazone for Secondary Stroke Prevention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - Stroke. 2016 Dec 20 - "Use of pioglitazone in stroke patients with insulin resistance, prediabetes, and diabetes mellitus was associated with lower risk of recurrent stroke (hazard ratio 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.92; P=0.01) and future major vascular events (hazard ratio 0.75"

Chocolate intake and incidence of heart failure: Findings from the Cohort of Swedish Men - Am Heart J. 2017 Jan;183:18-2 - "Compared with subjects who reported no chocolate intake, the multivariable-adjusted rate ratio of HF was 0.88 (95% CI 0.78-0.99) for those consuming 1-3 servings per month, 0.83 (95% CI 0.72-0.94) for those consuming 1-2 servings per week, 0.82 (95% CI 0.68-0.99) for those consuming 3-6 servings per week, and 1.10 (95% CI 0.84-1.45) for those consuming ≥1 serving per day" - See Ghirardelli Chocolate Intense Dark Squares, Midnight Reverie, 4.12 oz., 86% Cacao (Pack of 4) at Amazon.com.

A randomized, double blind placebo controlled study of efficacy and tolerability of Withaina somnifera extracts in knee joint pain - J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2016 Jul - Sep;7(3):151-15 - "Root extracts of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) are known to possess analgesic, anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective effects ... Sixty patients with knee joint pain and discomfort were randomized in a double-blind manner to W. somnifera 250 mg, W. somnifera 125 mg and placebo, all given twice daily. Assessment was done by Modified WOMAC, Knee Swelling Index (KSI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at baseline and at the end of 4, 8, 12 weeks ... At the end of 12 weeks, compared to baseline and placebo, significant reductions were observed in mean mWOMAC and KSI in W. somnifera 250 mg (p < 0.001), W. somnifera 125 mg (p < 0.05) groups. VAS scores for pain, stiffness and disability were significantly reduced in W. somnifera 250 mg (p < 0.001), W. somnifera 125 mg (p < 0.01) groups. W. somnifera 250 mg group showed earliest efficacy (at 4 weeks). All treatments were well tolerated" - [Nutra USA] - See Ashwagandha at Amazon.com. 

Health Focus (Triglycerides):